Man convicted in prison escape

FRESNO - A Stockton man who was serving time on drug charges has been convicted for escaping from a federal correctional institution.

The Record

FRESNO - A Stockton man who was serving time on drug charges has been convicted for escaping from a federal correctional institution.

Michael Paul Thompson, 32, pleaded guilty Monday in a plea agreement.

Thompson was serving a 10-year sentence for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine when he escaped from Federal Correctional Institution-Mendota on Oct. 12, 2011.

Thompson was located in Stockton and led police on a 20-minute high-speed chase with speeds reaching 100 mph. Officers had to physically intervene in his path with a patrol vehicle because his driving became a reckless endangerment, federal prosecutors said.

Thompson was arrested on March 29.

Thompson is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 13 and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.